Rihanna Slays On the Cover of VOGUE

On the hard-to-understand lyrics of her single “Work”: “You get what I’m saying, but it’s not all the way perfect,” she says. “Because that’s how we speak in the Caribbean.”

On whether she got bored with the typical pop formula: “Very much. I just gravitated toward the songs that were honest to where I’m at right now. It might not be some automatic record that will be Top 40. But I felt like I earned the right to do that now.”

On not having time for a relationship: “My schedule is so crazy right now. It’s definitely going to be a challenge when I do decide to pursue a relationship . . . but I have hope!”

On keeping that body of hers tight and right: “I don’t work out as much as I’d like to,” she says, “but my trainer Jamie is a beast and she makes me pay for it.”

On being pitted against Beyoncé again once “Formation” and the Formation World Tour dropped: “Here’s the deal. They just get so excited to feast on something that’s negative. Something that’s competitive. Something that’s, you know, a rivalry. And that’s just not what I wake up to. Because I can only do me. And nobody else is going to be able to do that.”